Brian Berg looks like any other lanky, loose-limbed amiable guy walking past you at the bar in the club downtown, but when he appears onstage, guitar in hand, he is transformed into a tightly coiled beanpole of manic energy. Although Berg’s been writing songs and playing in bands with friends around Portland, Oregon, for years, Collect Them All is the debut album of his own band, 44 Long.
Berg clearly knows his way around a hook. Crafted with a pinch of twang and an irresistible beat, combined with self-deprecating and sometimes dark lyrics, Berg’s barely-contained intensity lurks beneath the surface of this solid collection. 44 Long shifts effortlessly from noisy rockers to the most delicious and whimsical of pop songs, interspersed with musings about yearning, despair, searching for a sort of truth, and understanding “there’s a reason lovers leap.” In “Divine”, Berg’s voice, singing lyrics of longing (“Remember when I found you right behind my eyes”), isn’t necessarily pretty, but his subdued earnestness is most effective. Background harmonies in “Your Fortune” gently soar into the stratosphere, anchored by distorted guitars buzzing underneath the line of melody. “Irregular Heart”, another uncluttered pop gem, is pushed over the edge into uncommon by a guitar solo remarkable for its classic simplicity.
In the thudding “God Loves A Fool” (“Intuition is the moment that you know/You can take their advice or reclaim your soul”) and the unhurried burner “Fall Off The Wagon” (“One more chance should be plenty/The way I feel can’t be wrong”), the lyrics run on the same theme: resignation with a thread of hope woven throughout, searching for — and usually finding — the heart of the matter.